FTN host Q&A with Michael Biehn and review his new movie The Victim

At Heroes & Legends in Belfast on Feb 17th, Movie House, Dublin Road, was lucky enough to host the Irish premiere of Terminator star Michael Biehn’s new movie The Victim.

Following the Nerd were there and I was lucky enough to host the Q&A with writer, director and star Michael and his lovely lady Jennifer-Blanc-Biehn who also stars. The fans got to ask the questions and the stars answered. Here’s the video of the event. Posted below the video is up-and-coming NI author Owen Quinn’s review and after the whole lot is the trailer, so we pretty much give you everything except the movie. So sit back, enjoy the Q&A, read what Owen has to say, then watch the trailer.

The movie has been picked up in the UK by Anchor Bay and will be released later in 2012.

A special thanks to Kenny who did outstanding work during the whole Heroes & Legends event on camera duties.

THE Q&A:

THE REVIEW:
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this movie, a low budget movie written and directed by Michael Biehn and starring himself, his wife Jennifer and some of their friends. In a vein similar to Grindhouse movies, ‘The Victim’ opens with an interminal drive up a mountain to his shack where his character Kyle lives a solitary life. Meanwhile, a woman played by Jennifer is running through the woods in distress. At one point I was thinking are we ever going to stop running and driving as it seemed to go on forever.
Coming across Kyle’s shack, Annie tells the story of how some crooked cops have killed and disposed of her friend Annie but the audience is left unsure if it did really happen, especially when the cops in question arrive at Kyle’s door searching for her, spinning a story of how she is a fugitive. We learn Kyle has a dark past, the reason for his lonely existence and he is torn between the two parties unsure who to believe. We see more of the girl’s life in flashback but by the end of the movie I was unsure exactly what purpose these serve as they didn’t progress the story but merely introduce a plot point that becomes the crux of the movie’s climax. Is there a serial killer on the loose and is it Kyle?
The acting is excellent and there is a cringe-worthy moment where every man crossed his legs to protect his family jewels in a torture scene that puts Daniel Craig to shame in ‘Casino Royale’. There is a good story here, limited by the budget but enough substance to keep you hooked until the violent climax where Kyle and Annie are bound forever.
This movie hinges on the performances which are excellent, you even believe the cops at one stage but some of the characterization stretches incredibility. One minute Annie is the terrified helpless victim, the next she is bumping uglies with Kyle, which threw me a bit as the actress in question sat next to me at that point sucking on a large coke. I think I was scarred for life.
As always, the ending leaves you to make your own decision about Kyle and who he really is, but I have to say that given this is my frst exposure to Jennifer’s acting skills – I was never a fan of Party of Five – this was a good, solid debut that with a little tweaking and pacing correction would be a great movie. It also shows what you can do with very little money, forcing you to concentrate on character and using everything and everyone around you. As Michael said in the Q&A, the cameras are out there as is the technology to make your own movie; is this the start of a new form of cinema; we’ll have to wait and see, but the future is promising going by this.

Owen is the author of an ongoing series of Sci-fi novels called Time Warriors. Catch up with him here

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars.
He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer.
He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot.
Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….

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